The Spanish-American War examines the short 1898 conflict that ended Spain’s colonial rule in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines and marked a new stage in American overseas power. It traces the Cuban crisis, the destruction of the USS Maine, campaigns in the Caribbean and the U.S. naval victory at Manila Bay. The book also considers the peace settlement and how the war led directly to debates over annexation, empire and the Philippine-American conflict.
The conflict’s brevity disguises the scale of the imperial transition it produced. American victory ended Spanish sovereignty over several colonies but did not automatically create independent states, particularly in the Philippines. The peace settlement therefore opens directly into arguments about annexation, anti-imperialism and the extent to which a republic claiming to support Cuban freedom could acquire overseas possessions of its own.
Saul David
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